Naaman was commander of a powerful army. He met a young girl with no name and she’s the real hero of the story. Naaman was this great warrior commander dude who would go attack other countries and take all their stuff. He wasn’t a nice guy. He even attacked Israel, you know God’s people, and took them as slaves back in his country. Now, I don’t know about you, but I would NOT be a fan of Naaman if he kidnapped me and made me his slave. And that’s exactly what he did to the girl with no name.
Naaman was a great warrior, but he was a leper.
No, not a leopard. A leper. It’s a disease. Ever heard of it? Well, it’s nasty to look at and it’s real painful. So even though Naaman was successful, he had a lot of pain. People probably stared at him and maybe even made fun of him for how he looked.
So, here’s where the story gets interesting.
2 Kings 5:3 One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.”
What?! Did you catch that? The servant girl wanted to HELP Naaman! You know, the guy who had just come in and taken over her town. The guy who took her stuff and kidnapped her and brought her back as a servant in his home. She wanted to help THAT guy! Can you believe it? Do you ever want to be kind or helpful to someone who is mean to you? I think not! But, that’s why she’s the real hero in this story.
The girl with no name is a hero because she chose to show kindness to someone who was not nice to her.
We don’t even know her name! But she’s famous because of her actions. She chose to show kindness to someone who wasn’t kind to her. And that’s how God wants us to be.
Psalms 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
That’s exactly how little Penelope acted. (Oh, we decided she deserved a name.) She showed compassion to a guy who didn’t deserve it. Do you know what compassion means?
Compassion means be tender-hearted to someone and see things from their point of view.
So, instead of hating Naaman and being mean to him, Penelope (servant girl) chose to see things from his point of view. You know, maybe the reason why he was so mean was because of how he looked.
How can kids show compassion? Two ways:
- Put yourself in the mean person’s shoes. Remember, they must have hurts on the inside that make them act the way they do.
- Be kind. Be an example of what a good friend should look like. You never know how your kindness could change the person.
Naaman for sure changed! Why? Naaman got healed. And he learned who the real God is. All because of a little girl with no name.
